For those of you who do not know who Tony Robbins is, you should. Tony is a life coach and life strategist, business man, and entrepreneur. He is the definition of a human being living life on their terms and the impact that he has had on millions of people around the world cannot be understated.
I first found Tony Robbins about a year and a half ago when I moved back to Denver, Colorado after watching his Nexflix special "Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru". This special changed my life when I was able to see the impact he had on people instantaneously and the massive shift you saw within them after years of suffering with their issues. I have always been a very emotionally empathetic person and this brought me to tears many times watching this- if you have not seen it yet I highly recommend it.
Tony Robbins was extremely impactful for me because of the stage I was at in life. I had actually spent years working on self-help and self improvement because of where I had come from emotionally in life. I had just moved back from California after leaving a job I was no longer happy in and living a life that no longer suited me. I would say that it was divine intervention that I found Tony Robbins when I did.
I went through years of depression, anti-depressants, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and finally when I was mature enough and broken enough to accept it, I made the leap to go through therapy. This all happened over a span of about 12 years and I would not change a day of it. Through that journey I learned the power of prayer and faith, the strength of friends and family, and the amazing power of self care. I read tons of books and always wanted to make myself better from a young age but I did not find the power of self-help and psychology until I was closer to my 30's. Mental health is one of my most valued aspects of life and it means so much to me because through all of my struggles and pain I have been able to see the beauty of suffering by being able to help so many friends and family deal with their struggles. I wish the stigma of mental health would go away so that people could become the best version of themselves. Why are we so quick to run to help someone with a broken arm but so quick to run in the opposite direction when someone is dealing with a mental health issue?
All the years I spent trying to make myself better and finally feeling that I was in a place to help others made me seek out this journey to see Tony Robbins. I knew that after reading so many of his books, listening to CD's, and watching YouTube videos that I would regret it my entire life if I never went to see him speak live. And so, as I was sitting in the Las Vegas Airport on a layover near Christmas, I found Tony was doing an "Unleash The Power Within" event in San Jose, California in March. I knew it would be over committing myself financially with Christmas at that time of the year but I did not care, I committed to it and bought the ticket- and it was one of the best decisions I have made in my adult life.
The Tony Robbins event took place from March 15-18th and I will never forget watching him the moment he stepped on the stage. I am a passionate man; Tony Robbins is a PASSIONATE and ENERGETIC man. I have never seen someone with so much enthusiasm for life and helping others than Tony Robbins. The electricity he brings to the stage is unbelievable. Attending a UPW event is kind of like attending an electronic dance music concert with the music that is intermittently spread over the seminar. Throughout the entire seminar there is jumping, dancing, back rubs, sticking your finger in your nose (I know, it's a long story), and releasing your inner child. Tony Robbins completely and effectively uses the technique of putting your body in a peak state in order to change your psychology and it works beautifully. I freely admit this was a difficult part of the seminar for me as I get pumped up about things but on my own time and terms so this took some getting used to. However, the laughter, happiness, introspection, crying, and life changing moments are completely worth it.
The first day was great but if you go to a Tony Robbins seminar be ready for a marathon. We were supposed to go from noon-8pm but ended up going from noon-1130pm and that did not include the fire walk that took place after or the hours of sitting prior to have a good seat. I did not partake in the fire walk because as a friend pointed out, if I got a blister on my foot I would not be able to hike for a while and let's be honest, that's one of the most important aspects of my life.
Tony Robbins has been doing this for a long time, and as such his vocal chords have finally been catching up to him. His body has physiologically found a way for him to speak even though the physical form of his vocal chords should be prohibiting this. He unfortunately had to miss the second day and due to his absence, I also decided that I would miss the second day. Although I could have let myself be bummed out I decided not to be and took some time exploring nature in northern California. I saw the most amazing sunset in San Francisco and had my passion for photography oozing out of me the entire time. I knew that night I was right where I was meant to be and that doing photography was the gift that God has blessed me with.
The third day was where the true magic happens. Tony calls this transformation day and I can say without a doubt, there is no better name for this day. He gets you to dig deep within your soul and find the self limiting beliefs that you have within yourself and find the ways in which they are holding you back from achieving the life that you want. Then he gets you to destroy those thoughts and build self-empowering thoughts to replace them with and allows you to take your life in a new direction. Prior to this moment at the seminar, I was not all too emotional. During this exercise, I started balling like I was watching "Beauty and the Beast" (or whatever makes you cry uncontrollably). This was extremely moving, powerful, and effective. I have never had anything that changed my life in an instant like this.
I will be completely honest about one of my self-limiting beliefs that I held- that I was not good enough to be a great photographer to make a name for myself and have a successful business. I have never taken an art or photography class, have no formal education in photography, and just started with a DSLR a year and a half ago- all aspects that fed into my BS belief that I could not be a great photographer. Tony got me to see all the things that I had held myself back from so far with this self-limiting belief and the ramifications of this were uncanny. I literally stopped trying to truly push myself further in photography because I did not believe in my mind that I could grow to the next level. He also made us look 5, 10, 20, and 30 years into the future and see where our lives were as a result of our beliefs- there are few things in life that can evoke change like looking at your life 30 years from now and realizing you wasted your life not living the way you wanted to. I will say, to this day, this was the most spiritual moment of my entire life. I won't share much beyond that I truly felt a spiritual connection to God and I knew I was truly blessed to have this beautiful gift of photography, and it is my duty to share it with the world and inspire others through it. This day single handedly changed my life forever.
The fourth day I also decided not to stay because I was not sure how much speaking Tony would do again as he spoke a ton on Saturday. I also had family in Northern California that weekend and as everyone close to me knows, friends and family are the most important aspect of my life. That being said, this seminar was the best investment I could have ever made in myself. The ticket for the 3 1/2 days was about $1,000 and with travel, hotel, etc. it was all in about $2,000... and worth every single penny of it. What is self-care and self-help worth? More than I could ever tell you- besides this was a hell of a lot more fun than spending 2K on bar tabs for a bunch of nights I would never remember anyway.
Tony Robbins is truly a gift to this planet. He lives to serve and you fully see that in his seminars. His talks are hilarious, engaging, life changing, and informative. That being said- he is not your guru. He is a life strategist and knows human behaviors and patterns that lead to a more fulfilled life. He is not a therapist or a way out of getting help if you truly need it- do not ever be ashamed to get professional help and get your life in the direction you want it to go. I truly believe my experience at "Unleash The Power Within" was exponentially greater because of all the deep, dark moments that I have lived and made it through. The therapy I have gone through allowed me to relate to so many patterns and destructive behavior he spoke about and to know that I will never go back to that place. Tony is the most amazing motivational speaker I have ever witnessed and I would have paid ten times what I did to have experienced this event again. However, motivation is fleeting and if you don't set yourself up with great habits everyday to live your happiest and most fulfilled life, it doesn't matter what "guru" you go to, you will not find your happiness. Look intrinsically at your behavior patterns everyday and see if they are empowering or destructive, only then can you set up your life to make it everything you dreamed of. Tony Robbins can help you find all of those things, but he won't be by your side every single day, you have to put in the work to truly live your fullest life.
I highly recommend this event to anyone looking to improve their life through total immersion. Books, videos, and audio are fantastic and I listen to them every day to improve myself, but they are not a substitute for being completely engaged in a weekend full of people with similar motivations to become the best version of themselves, taught by one of the most passionate people on this earth that wants to help end suffering for humanity. Do yourself a favor and go see Tony Robbins in person if you can, your psychology and life you live after the fact will thank you more than I could ever express. Love your life with passion and watch the world around you change.
